Peter Tremayne - The Dove of Death

‘I did not come willingly to your country,’ she began quietly but firmly.

She paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts again, but Fidelma had an advocate’s sense of the dramatic.

‘My companion, Eadulf, and I were returning to our own country of Hibernia on a ship called the Barnacle Goose . On board that ship was my cousin, a prince of my country, Bressal of Cashel, who had but lately conducted a treaty of trade with King Alain and was en route home with a cargo of salt from the salt pans at Gwenrann. An old friend of mine, Murchad of Aird Mhór, captained the ship. We were sailing near the island called Hoedig when we were attacked by another ship. That ship had a dove carved on its bow and flew a white banner from its stern, on which was the emblem of a dove. We were forced to surrender after one of the crew and the first mate were killed. After that surrender, the commander of this hostile vessel, a person dressed in white and masked, murdered my cousin in cold blood and then murdered the captain. Both of them were unarmed and were making verbal protest, my cousin showing the emblem of his office at the time.’

She paused once more.

‘I shall not go into many details. Eadulf and I were about to be slaughtered so, to save our lives, we were forced to jump overboard. Brother Metellus, like a guardian angel, came sailing by and rescued us. Eventually he brought us to the Abbey of Gildas. There I saw evidence that our captured ship must have put in close to these shores.’

Aourken was nodding in her seat.

‘I also learned that the emblem of a dove was known as the standard of the mac’htiern of Brilhag. Subsequently I discovered that there had been raids on farmsteads, an attack on merchants and several deaths attributed to these same pirates who acted under that flag. Both the ship and the leader of the raiders were referred to as the Koulm ar Maro , the Dove of Death.’

Canao now leaned forward in his seat. He spoke loudly and firmly.

‘Let it be recorded that the mac’htiern of Brilhag clearly and completely denies that any of his followers have acted in the manner described, and that these deeds were not committed by anyone who was legally entitled to serve under the emblem of his family.’

Fidelma turned and inclined her head towards him as there came an outburst of angry murmuring from the direction of Barbatil, Coric and their friends.

‘But let us agree that the pirates used the standard of Lord Canao of Brilhag during their raids,’ she stated.

Barbatil rose to his feet and spoke rapidly, his words quickly translated.

‘There are many of us,’ he waved his hand to indicate his supporters in the hall, ‘farmers, and others, who have witnessed attacks by warriors carrying that now accursed banner bearing a dove as its emblem. We should be protected by the lord of Brilhag and yet, for these last two weeks, we have been persecuted by him!’

‘You are out of order!’ shouted the rasping voice of Kaourentin.

‘Out of order?’ cried the burly farmer, his anger bubbling over. ‘My daughter is dead. I am here not for order but for vengeance! I am here to speak for the farmers who have been killed, for our wives and daughters who have been deprived of their husbands and fathers and sons. And for those who have been violated by these vermin. I speak for all the dead who have perished by the hand of this Dove of Death!’

King Alain raised his strong baritone voice to suppress the rising babble in the room.

‘Let no one be under any illusion. This hearing will be conducted in the name of justice, not of vengeance, and in accordance with our traditions and spirit of our laws. The guilty shall be punished. If they are guilty, they shall be punished, even though they sit at my side.’

Lord Canao flushed but made no response, staring doggedly ahead of him.

The King turned to Fidelma and motioned her to continue.

‘Having landed here on this peninsula, we heard of these attacks of which the farmer, Barbatil, has spoken. We found the merchants of Biscam after they were attacked and slaughtered. My companion, Eadulf here, discovered this banner clutched in the dead hands of one of them…’

Eadulf stood up, unfolded the silk banner he had brought with him and held it up before the assembly, allowing them to see it and recognise it before he sat down again. A ripple of voices spread through the great hall.

‘The evidence is obvious,’ shouted someone. Fidelma thought it was Coric, the friend of Barbatil. ‘That is the flag of Lord Canao.’

King Alain was looking thoughtful.

‘From what I have heard, these attacks began only two weeks ago. But for what purpose? They seem senseless, particularly so if they were being carried out on the orders of the lord of Brilhag — who, I have to say, for these last two weeks has been constantly in my company both at Naoned, Gwenrann and with me hunting along these shores.’

‘I have said, and I say it again,’ Lord Canao intervened. ‘These attacks have not been ordered by me or the house of Brilhag.’

‘Yet the act was done under your emblem,’ Fidelma pointed out. ‘We must, therefore, ask — why?’

The mac’htiern frowned in annoyance.

‘Why would I, or any of my family, attack and despoil those very people who exist under the protection of Brilhag? I am their chieftain. They look to me and mine for their wellbeing. Our existence is symbiotic. I cannot exist without them nor they without me. Will there be honey if the queen bee should turn and kill the worker bees?’

As eloquent as this was, his words provoked some angry murmuring from Barbatil and his comrades.

‘We are here to bring Macliau to justice,’ cried Barbatil, ‘not Lord Canao. If the father won’t admit responsibility then his son must accept the evidence of his guilt.’

Fidelma ignored the cries of support for the farmer.

‘Lord Canao has asked a good question. And now, I will answer it. These attacks started when those responsible for them learned that Alain Hir, King of the Bretons, was coming as guest to Brilhag. To what end were all these senseless attacks directed? The lady Trifina has provided the answer. Trifina, what was your response?’

Trifina hesitated and then rose uncertainly.

‘I told you that someone was out to destroy the reputation of my family,’ she said. ‘I believed that the person using the banner of my family did so as a ruse, to bring disgrace on us.’

‘Just so’ agreed Fidelma mildly. ‘But for what end? Just to bring disgrace on a family is not a strong enough motive in itself to go to such murderous lengths. Murder is not an end in itself. There must surely be something more.’

‘What more could there be?’ Lord Canao bent forward and asked. ‘My daughter has given you good reason and has suffered because of it. Bleidbara has brought back half-a-dozen prisoners from his encounter with the Koulm ar Maro — they must be made to confess who their leader was. Confess if there was anyone else in conspiracy with them.’

‘The truth is that they do not know,’ Fidelma replied. ‘They are mercenaries. Their captain, a man called Taran from Pou-Kaer, was the only one to have direct dealings with the person who organised them. They were paid from the booty they took, but they never saw their real leader unmasked. Perhaps Taran could have identified the real Dove of Death, but he lies at the bottom of the Morbihan.’

‘It is true, Lord Canao,’ called Bleidbara. ‘They might be willing to talk to save their lives by confession, but they do not know what to confess.’

‘I will come to the identity of the leader in a moment,’ Fidelma said confidently. ‘But firstly I will tell you the reason why this has taken place.’ She allowed a few seconds to pass; the great hall was completely silent. ‘The lady Trifina was right. This “Dove of Death” as this person became known, was using the emblem of Brilhag for a purpose. However, it was not merely to bring disgrace to this family — but to bring blame. ’